Willy Wonka's Factory of Horrors
by mattTheWriter072
Summary: Willy Wonka's chocolate factory used to be one of the greatest buildings on Earth. After a nuclear apocalypse destroyed much of North America as we know it, the place was in ruins. Reports showed that the factory was infested with all sorts of horrifying life forms. An investigator by the name of Mike Teavee is tasked with cleaning up the place, but he does not remember his past...
1. Introduction

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory franchise or any characters associated with the franchise. All rights belong to Roald Dahl, Tim Burton, and Warner Bros. Pictures. This is not my intellectual property, and no financial gain is made from this nor will be sought. This is purely for entertainment purposes only.

Chapter 1 - Introduction

 _Audio log # 1: ID number 586749...my name is Mike Teavee. I've been kept in cryogenic stasis for the last two-hundred years, and only recently have I been awoken. The government has selected me for a secret mission to quarantine a chocolate factory that used to belong to a man called Willy Wonka—or so I've been told. They figured my engineering and computer programming skills would be a valuable asset. My surroundings are a mess, with nothing but rubble and garbage everywhere, and there is not a single living soul to be found._

 _I was told by a government agent that this factory used to be a tall, majestic building before the apocalypse took place, but now all I can see are the remnants of what appear to be courtyard walls and a crumbling tower. I'll have to find a way in somehow, and clear out the freaking place. Who knows, maybe my past memories might come back to me during my mission. Again, this is Mike Teavee, and I'm signing off for now._

 **Author's note: I hope you enjoyed this little introduction to my latest story. Don't worry, I promise I will update my other stories, but I thought I should try writing something different for a change, so why not? Feel free to review, and I promise I'll be back soon, whether it's a new chapter for this story or one of my other stories. Stay tuned! :)**


	2. The Mission

Chapter 2 - The Mission

 **Author's note: Hey everyone, I'm back with the first real chapter of my story, and for once, I didn't take two months to update! Let's get to your reviews.**

 **Sonny April, just you wait. The real story hasn't even begun yet. :D**

 **MysteriousMaker1185, thanks for your feedback! You'll find out what will happen next very soon.**

 **JOHNHAMMOND1993, you'll get the answer to your question very shortly! And don't worry, I will resume my other stories sooner than later. Now, on with the story!**

Mike Teavee sighed once he finished recording his first audio log. He was sitting on a chair in what used to be the waiting room for a walk-in clinic. His dark brown hair, which he normally styled into spikes, was plastered against his sweaty scalp. He had a stainless steel water bottle clutched in his right hand, which he had emptied into his body for the fifth time in the past thirty minutes due to how hot and stuffy the air was, both indoors and outdoors.

 _I still can't believe that the government put me in charge_ , he thought as he rubbed his dry, brown eyes. _I should be feeling honored, but at the same time...I'm dreading the thought of this task of cleaning up the factory. Who knows what kind of danger I might run into? Booby traps? Zombies? Nuclear radiation? Naw, forget about that last one. If there was still radiation present in the atmosphere, I'd be dead by now._

Suddenly, he heard a series of beeps coming from his left wrist. He wore a high-tech, government-issued watch that had the ability to project a holographic display of not only the time, but also the weather, a map of his surroundings, important notes, a locator tool, and video chat.

He tapped the watch with a finger, and the face of a young blonde woman appeared in front of him. She couldn't have been any older than twenty-two, by the looks of it.

"Hello, Michael Teavee," the woman said in a calm, soothing voice. "How are you today?"

"I'm...I'm...good, I guess...?" Mike nervously responded, unsure as to who this woman was. "W-who are you, and what do you want?"

The woman held a long, well-manicured finger to her nose to silence him. "Now, no need for excessive questioning, okay? My name is Stella, and I'll be your guide. As you know, your task is to clean up Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. I bet you don't recall who that is, right?"

Mike shook his head. "N-no, I've never heard of Willy Wonka before, but it's a stupid name, that's for sure! Those people from over two-hundred years ago...they came up with the most ridiculous names in the history of mankind!"

"Stay focused, Mike," Stella told him, her voice as soothing as ever. "You don't have to raise your voice at me. I'm well aware that cryogenic stasis has taken a toll on your well-being, since you're suffering from amnesia, but please listen to my advice. I'll be with you every step of the way."

Mike nodded, and he brushed a stray hair away from his left eye. "Stella?"

"Yes, Mike?" Stella responded, curious as to what her recruit was going to ask her next.

"A-are you a real p-person?" Mike stammered. In response, Stella threw her head back, laughing hysterically.

"Of course I'm a real person!" she exclaimed before mumbling, "What am I gonna do with you?"

"Well, at least now I know you're not some kind of artificial intelligence computer program," Mike said, smiling slightly. "I'm in."

"Awesome," Stella replied, clasping her hands together. "Now, let's begin. You just have to make your way over to the chocolate factory, and once you get there, I'll call you back, okay?" Mike nodded. "I'll keep tabs on your current location. Bye for now."

"Uhhh, bye?" Mike squeaked just as Stella suddenly vanished from sight. _Why the hell did she cut the conversation short so soon?_ he wondered. His body felt like it weighed a thousand pounds as he shakily rose from the chair. He turned around and walked straight through an already-shattered window that stretched from the floor to the ceiling, and he used the locator tool on his watch to find out where to go next. It projected a glowing blue line that turned to the left before going straight down the street, and he decided to follow it.

Mike couldn't help but gawk at his surroundings as he followed the blue line down the street. The whole road was strewn with rubble, and he had to carefully watch his footsteps to make sure he didn't trip over any pieces of concrete or accidentally stab himself with razor-sharp fragments of steel and iron.

About two-hundred feet in front of him, there stood a colossal building that could very well have been the ancient ruins of a castle. There was a pair of gates that consisted of twisted and gnarled iron, and bits and pieces of what used to be a massive, concrete wall flanked those gates on either side. Beyond the gates, all he could see was rubble, and a large, partially crumbled tower that rose about a hundred feet into the air. Someone else had told him earlier that this tower used to be ether twice or three times as tall as it was now.

"So that really used to be Wonka's factory," Mike said in amazement as he tried to visualize what the building might have looked like back in its heyday. "Impressive."

As he continued to walk towards the ruins of the chocolate factory, he passed a road sign that read: "CHERRY STREET". Off to his left was the dilapidated remains of a store, and he could barely make out what appeared to be a swirly "W" on its facade. Mike emotionlessly stared at it for several seconds.

"Hmph," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "Who cares, it's just a stupid letter. The twenty-third letter of the freaking alphabet. Like I care." He tore his gaze away from the "W" before moving onward. As he neared the ominous-looking factory ruins, his watch beeped, and Stella's holographic face appeared in front of him again.

"Mike," she warned, "be careful when you enter the factory. The air inside contains traces of various gases that may have hallucinogenic properties. According to various reports, it might have been caused by certain candies that Mr. Wonka and his apprentice produced shortly before their untimely deaths."

"Great," Mike said sarcastically. "Maybe I'll be able to remember where I came from as a result of those 'hallucinogenic properties'."

Stella chuckled. "Don't worry about it, Mr. Teavee," she said calmly. "Anyway, there will be some locker rooms when you enter the factory. You'll change into a protective full-body suit, and you'll find some tools for you to use during your mission."

"Tools?" Mike wondered, cocking his head to one side. "What kind of tools?"

"You'll find out once you get there," Stella replied. "Remember that you can always use your locator if you get stuck. It knows the factory better than anyone. Anyway, I gotta go now, to take care of other business. If you need me, feel free to call, but you may need to leave a message since I won't be back for about forty-five minutes to an hour. You'll do just fine, Mike. I know you will." She winked at him before disappearing out of sight.

Mike sighed as he tapped his watch to bring up the locator, and the blue line led past the gates before turning sharply to the right.

"A-are you sure about this, Stella?" he asked out loud, even though he knew that she couldn't hear him. He imagined her smiling at him and saying, "Yes, I'm positive," in that soothing tone before he continued onward. He stepped over the crumbled remains of the courtyard wall before entering what used to be one of the factory's loading bays. In its place was an enormous slab of concrete that was covered in rubble and rusted metal parts that looked like robotic arms.

"Creepy," he whispered as he began to head down a long ramp that eventually led underground. The door that led inside the factory had been blasted off its frame long ago. "I can't believe I have to do this job alone," he grumbled as he cautiously stepped over the threshold and into one of the factory's subterranean corridors.

 **Author's note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! As always, feel free to review, and try to predict what might happen next! Stay tuned for more. :D**


	3. Mike's First Assignment

Chapter 3 - Mike's First Assignment

 **Author's note: Hey everyone, I'm finally back! Happy Friday! Lately, my mind has been consumed by sheer anticipation, since one of my favorite bands, Dream Theater, will be releasing a new album called "Distance Over Time" in exactly two weeks! I'm so excited to buy it. Anyway, let's get to your reviews.**

 **The Illuminaughty Pine Tree, you'll find out soon, but for now, there will be a lot more questions than answers. ;)**

 **JOHNHAMMOND1993, it's funny how you mentioned this could be a horror game, because I actually got the idea for this story while playing Dead Space. :D And will the Great Glass Elevator be in working condition? Only I know!**

 **MysteriousMaker1185, I'm glad you like the description of Cherry Street! You'll find out what's in store for Mike very soon.**

 **XXCandyLoverXX, you'll learn more about Stella over the course of the story. ;)**

 **Turrislucidus, don't you worry, that will be covered very soon. :D**

 **Gs33022, I'm glad you're enjoying my story! As you may know, I reviewed Chapter 13 of "What Could Have Been" shortly after you published it. I'm glad Mike's attitude made you laugh as well!**

 **Guest, I already fulfilled your request. Go ahead and read my latest oneshot, "From Deserts to Desserts". Now, on with the story!**

As soon as Mike entered the long-abandoned factory, the lights dimly flickered on, revealing a long corridor that was filled with a slight haze of dust. The corridor was so quiet that he could listen to his heart pounding like an out-of-control jackhammer, and every single step he took echoed throughout the area as if he was a giant monster. About thirty paces in, he found a large, round door to his right, and he pushed it open with hardly any effort.

"This must be one of the locker rooms that Stella told me about," Mike muttered as he entered an enormous room that contained hundreds of rusty steel lockers. He promptly used the locator, and the glowing blue line that his watch projected onto the ground led him to a locker on the left side of the room. There was a faded label on the door that read: "Locker 84", and a fingerprint scanner was positioned beside it.

Without saying a word, Mike pressed his thumb against the fingerprint scanner, and much to his surprise, it flashed green, and a click was heard as the door unlocked. Inside the locker was a purple full-body suit. The helmet and boots were made from hardened steel, and the rest of the suit consisted of chain mail with thick metal plating on the front and back to protect the wearer's vital organs.

It took more than a few minutes for Mike to put the suit on, and once he was finished, he felt like he weighed a thousand pounds.

"Seriously, Stella?" Mike groaned as he struggled to stand fully upright, the suit nearly crushing his clavicles and spine. "You expect me to carry out this stupid mission like this?! What do you think I am? A champion wrestler or something? No!"

With a swipe of his arm, he loudly slammed the locker door shut, and as he walked back towards the corridor, he was constantly stumbling all over the place like a drunken old man. How humiliating.

Mike tapped his watch again to bring up the locator, and the blue line that appeared stretched far down the narrow, straight hallway before suddenly turning to the right.

As Mike clumsily followed the line towards his next objective, his mind was going at nearly the speed of light as disturbing thoughts arose. _Honestly, I have a feeling there's something horribly wrong with all of this. Why couldn't the government have chosen an adult who had the same qualifications as me? Maybe because they're all dead? I dunno. Why didn't Stella have enough time to help me? Is she just busy, or could she possibly be lying to me, and trying to manipulate me?_

"Come on, Mike, focus yourself," Mike said while snapping his fingers. "You've got a mission to fulfill here." He realized that his locator had led him to another locker room, but this time, one of the lockers was open. Out of curiosity, he looked inside, and he found a plasma torch.

"The W-130 Extra-Strength Plasma Cutter is suitable for clean, precise cutting and trimming tasks in the field of construction and mining," an automated voice spoke. "The default mode allows you to cut through most metals with precision and ease. The secondary mode produces a larger beam, which allows for greater coverage, at the cost of accuracy. It is not meant to be used on wood, plastic, or on living organisms."

"Well, thanks for the spiel," Mike said as he retrieved the tool from the locker. It was surprisingly light, and it fit comfortably into his hand. "Okay, where to next?"

The locator on his watch led him towards the next door in the hallway, which was labeled: "SERVER ROOM # 1". Once he got there, the big, round door was wide open, despite the fact that the door featured multiple security systems. Obviously, this meant that someone had already gotten past the security systems to this room, but who and when could it have been? Could it have been Charlie and Mr. Wonka, before the apocalypse struck? Could it have been Stella? Clearly, this was a moment where Mike had many more questions than answers.

He cautiously entered the unnervingly quiet Server Room, only to find that the servers, which looked like gigantic purple spheres, were all switched off. They were covered from top to bottom with a thin layer of dust.

After walking past several rows of these servers, which were each about the size of an average sedan, Mike finally came across a single computer that was positioned on top of a desk. There was no chair, so he had to sit uncomfortably on his knees. He looked at the keyboard, scanning each of the plastic keys for a power switch, but to no avail.

"What a piece of primitive garbage," Mike said as he looked at the monitor. The screen was pitch-black, meaning that it was obviously powered off. He grabbed the monitor with both hands and turned it around, and he finally found the power button on the back of it. With a quick push, the LED on the bottom right hand corner of the monitor began to glow yellow, and it became green two seconds later.

A few white dots quickly appeared on the screen, followed by a flurry of code that rapidly scrolled by as the computer booted up. Several seconds later, the code disappeared from the screen, and Mike was greeted with a blank terminal window.

"Command line stuff, I see," Mike said, smiling slightly. "Gotta love Linux."

He quickly typed a script into the computer, and once he pressed the Enter key, he began to hear a loud whirring sound from behind him, and before long, the server closest to him had sprung back to life. He typed in more scripts that were nearly identical to the first to boot up the remaining servers, and when it was done, he walked away from the computer and out of the room.

"I see that the servers have been successfully rebooted," a female voice suddenly spoke, nearly causing Mike to jump in surprise.

"Stella, is that you?" Mike asked, looking at his watch. Sure enough, Stella's face appeared almost instantly to answer his question.

"Of course it's me," she told him. "Nice suit, by the way."

"Thanks," Mike said sarcastically. "It's so comfortable, I could wear it for days on end...NOT!"

Stella chuckled. "That suit is for your protection, Mike. We don't know exactly what could be lurking inside the factory as of yet. But then again, that's why you were sent here, right?"

Mike shrugged his shoulders. "Uh, I guess so. Anyway, I have several questions that I _desperately_ need you to—"

"Listen, I would love to chat some more, but I can't be away from my work too long. I gotta go now. Good luck with your mission."

"So training your recruit for this mission is not your main priority?!" Mike shouted in frustration, but Stella had already disappeared.

 **Author's note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! As always, feel free to review and guess what might happen next. Stay tuned for the next one! :D**


	4. Questions, Doubts, and Revelations

Chapter 4 - Questions, Doubts, and Revelations

 **Author's note: Hello, everyone! I'm back with the fourth chapter, which is technically more of an interlude, I guess, due to its short length. On a serious note, I've been noticing that when I visit the mobile site, ads appear in the middle of my story. Not before, not after, in the middle, DURING A CHAPTER. Quality fiction does not need commercial breaks, people! Anyway, with that aside, let's address your reviews.**

 **The Illuminaughty Pine Tree, she is definitely quite the character, yes. ;)**

 **Guest, thanks for your thoughts!**

 **Turrislucidus, I may not have specified whether or not Mike was wearing gloves, but I was definitely thinking of the Tin Man when I wrote about him snapping his fingers!** **Besides, doesn't the movie share some similarities to Wizard of Oz? The factory itself looks rather bleak due to the cold, gray walls and the white snow on the ground, but once inside, you are lost in a world of bright colors and pure imagination. Wait, did I just make a reference to the wrong movie? Whoops! XD**

 **Squirrela, well, the idea for the story did come to me while playing Dead Space, so I guess that's why it seems like it could be a video game. :D Now, on with the story!**

 _Audio log # 2: ID number 586749...it's Mike Teavee again. My "mentor", Stella, is starting to act rather strange, and I really don't know what to think about her. Whenever I ask her questions pertaining to my mission, she just brushes me off for no apparent reason other than to "take care of other business". I think she's up to something, but I don't know what._

 _I seriously hope that I'm not the only living soul inside this stupid factory, because she could very well be leaving me for dead in here. Wait, what am I saying? Screw that! I still have a mission to carry out._

 _Why do I even have to quarantine this place to begin with? I'm not one-hundred percent certain, but the government said that I was the only suitable person for the job. My amnesia may have affected certain aspects of my memory while in cryogenic stasis, but I haven't forgotten how to program and hack into computers, even though my knowledge may now be outdated by over two-hundred years. I'm sure that's why I was chosen; because no one else would have known exactly what to do with those ancient computers. Anyway, this is Mike Teavee, and I'm signing off._

 **I hope you enjoyed this short chapter. Feel free to review, and stay tuned for more.**


	5. First Signs of Danger

Chapter 5 - First Signs of Danger

 **Author's note: Happy Friday, everyone! I'm back with the fifth chapter of the story. I don't have much else to say, so I'll address your reviews now!**

 **The Illuminaughty Pine Tree, you'll get more than your dose of action this chapter, as well as during the next several chapters.**

 **Turrislucidus, at the risk of foreshadowing future events, I'll respond to your clever review with, "Terror, and surprises, and hallucinations, oh, my!" I wasn't intentionally making a reference to the wizard when I created Stella, but now that I look back at it in retrospect, they do have their similarities. As far as I'm concerned, it was just a major coincidence. :D**

 **mike teevee, I think you're from the wrong movie here, judging by how your surname is spelled. ;)**

 **JOHNHAMMOND1993, there is a significance to Mike's ID number, although it's nothing that any of you would know about. It's actually a reference to the length of two songs I've written. One of the songs is 5 minutes and 86 seconds long, which would technically be 6 minutes and 26 seconds, hence the first three digits. The other song is 7 minutes and 49 seconds in length. :D**

 **Guest, I highly doubt there will be romance between Mike and Stella. You'll find out why during the next several chapters. Now, on with the story!**

"I absolutely hate being left in the dark like this," Mike said quietly to himself once he finished recording his second audio log. "At least I have a feeling as to why I was chosen for this mission, but what am I _really_ trying to accomplish here? Anyway, onward."

He used his locator, and the blue line that it projected onto the floor led him towards another server room, which was almost identical to the first. Like before, there was an old computer at the far side of the room, which he turned on. After typing in the same series of codes as he did before, the servers were all booted up, and Mike left the area.

"Good work, Mr. Teavee," Stella said as her holographic face appeared in front of him. "Now, you must make your way to the next locker room, where you will find and retrieve a diamond-bladed saw. Then, you'll head towards the Security Room, which your locator will pinpoint for you. According to our records, the airtight door to the security room has already been opened. You'll hack into the computer and destroy the fuse boxes with your saw to take the system offline, and then once you reach the elevator at the end of the hallway, I will brief you on what to do next. Good luck."

"Stella," Mike said apprehensively, "I don't know why I'm doing this. Why do I need to take the security system offline? That doesn't make any sense at all. I'm worried I'll be endangering the premises if I follow through with your advice."

"Sorry, Mike, you're not authorized to know that," Stella replied. "Your computer skills make you perfect for this task, so please, just relax! All I can say is that after your mission has been fulfilled, the factory will be clear of any hazards, provided you do well. I promise I'll be more readily available within the next hour or so. We can both do this. I have faith in you, Mike."

"But Stella—!" Mike squeaked just as she faded away. "Forget it. Okay, she told me to go to the next locker room, so suppose I'll do that now."

The next locker room was just fifty feet away, and once he got there, he found the saw tucked away inside an open locker. It featured a long, rotating diamond-toothed blade that resembled a chainsaw, as well as a handle with a comfortable gripping surface.

"The W-106 Diamond Saw is a highly versatile tool designed for multi-use cutting purposes," an automated voice spoke as he examined the saw's menacing diamond teeth. "Users are advised to always wear protective clothing whenever the saw is in use."

"Well, _duh_ ," Mike said as he slapped his helmet with his gloved right hand, producing a metallic clang that echoed all around the room. "Do you really think I'm that stupid to NOT be wearing protective clothing around this thing? Must be all that legal crap about liabilities or disclaimers or whatever that is."

After Mike grabbed the saw and tucked it into a holster by his right hip, he continued to walk further down the hallway until he arrived at a fork.

"Just what I needed, a freaking maze," Mike said sarcastically. "Nothing my trusty locator can't help me with!" He used it, and the beam guided him down the left-hand path. As he descended several long flights of stairs which led even deeper underground, the lights above him were rapidly flickering on and off, as if they were about to burn out at any moment.

The locator guided him towards an open doorway at the bottom of the last flight of stairs, and he emerged into a large room that consisted of a row of overturned chairs, a control panel, and hundreds of screens that displayed live video footage of each and every room in the factory. He was about to investigate the control panel when he caught a sign of movement out of the corner of his eye: a creature that seemed to resemble a small human raced across one of the screens for a fraction of a second. Something must have taken place just outside of the camera's range, because the formerly sterile floor was suddenly tainted by a violent spray of blood.

"What in the world was that?" Mike said in confusion before he shifted his attention away from the screen towards the Security Room's control panel. Without wasting another moment, he typed multiple lines of code into the computer, pushed a sequence of buttons, and flipped a few switches, and seconds later, each screen in the Security Room shut off, one by one by one.

Eventually, it got to the point where only five screens were still illuminated. Then, there were four, then three, and then two. After that one was powered off, only a single screen remained, and it displayed the very room that Mike was standing in. Mike turned to look in the direction of the camera, and he casually held his hand upwards as if he was greeting someone. Of course, the camera never said "hello" in return. Instead, a tiny, pulsating red light flashed on and off for about four seconds, and Mike felt his heart skip a beat. He had no doubt that something was about to go horribly wrong.

"Oh, no," Mike whispered, covering his mouth with both hands. "What the hell have I just done?"

Suddenly, a blaring alarm started to go off, and the white lights in the room quickly became red.

"Foreign beings detected," an automated voice spoke. "Initiating quarantine lockdown."

"Dammit!" Mike screamed as the airtight door that led into the Security Room began to descend. His heart was racing as he looked over his shoulder back towards the monitors, all of which were now red. They each displayed the word "QUARANTINING!" in bold white letters, accompanied by a common biohazard symbol. He whipped his face back around to face forwards, only to see that the door was already a quarter of the way closed, and the gap between it and the floor was diminishing steadily. Without any more thoughts, he ignored his own body's internal alarms and sprinted straight towards the door, which was halfway closed by this point, as fast as his legs could carry him in that suit. It was now or never for Mike, and even as his stomach did countless cartwheels within his chest, he still ran at top speed towards the ever-narrowing escape route. At the last few seconds, he threw himself onto the ground and rolled underneath the door, and just a quarter of a second after his outstretched hand crossed the threshold, the door was sealed shut with a loud clang.

The events that just transpired were a lot for Mike to take in, and he barely had any time to contemplate his near-death experience before he realized what was going on. The hallway was also pulsating with a harsh, red light, and the overly loud alarms threatened to rob Mike of his hearing every single second. Now overcome by sheer adrenaline, Mike jumped to his feet despite the weight of his suit, and he ran down the hallway, legs pumping hard as if they were moving on their own. He heard something burst out of an overhead vent just behind him, and he almost tripped over his own feet as he ran even faster, especially when he began to hear a growling sound coming from behind him. Whatever that mysterious thing was, it was in hot pursuit of Mike, and he dared not look over his shoulder to investigate.

Suddenly, another nearby vent exploded, and as Mike made a sharp turn to the left, he barely caught a glimpse of a humanoid creature that was about the size of a five-year-old child. More growling and frantic footsteps were heard from behind Mike as he continued to sprint further down the hallway.

"Stellaaaaaaaa!" Mike hollered as he frantically dashed around another corner. "Help!"

Dead ahead, Mike saw a pair of double doors that appeared to lead into a service elevator. A wave of immense relief flooded his whole body, and he somehow began to run even faster than before, panting like a dog as his lungs struggled to supply his body with oxygen. He slammed his hand against the button on the wall, and he forced his way through the doors before they had time to fully open. It was only when Mike went to press the "Down" button that he had the chance to see what was chasing him, and he let out a bloodcurdling scream.

The enemies that were pursuing Mike looked like reanimated corpses of tiny men, no bigger than a small child. They had pug-like faces, unblinking, glassy eyes with blood-red irises, forked tongues that resembled that of a snake, and long, bony fingers with claws instead of nails. A thick, yellow fluid was constantly dripping out of their open mouths, which bore razor-sharp, yellow teeth. Their most disturbing trait, however, was the sight of four long, narrow tentacles that were curled over their shoulders, and the fact that they could have lashed out at him from behind at any time.

Before these creatures had a chance to attack Mike, the doors of the elevator slammed shut, instantly blocking them from entering. Mike crashed against the back wall of the elevator, and he practically ripped the helmet off his head to gulp down some fresh air. His head was sweating profusely, and he rubbed the back of his gloved hand against his forehead in an attempt to wipe the perspiration away, all to no avail.

"Stella," Mike said through gritted teeth as the elevator descended deeper underground, "I've got more than a few words to say to you."

 **Author's note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Things are getting a tad intense now, aren't they? This is only the beginning! Anyway, feel free to review, and as always, stay tuned for the next chapter! :)**


	6. Visions

Chapter 6 - Visions

 **Author's note: Hey, readers! I'm so sorry about keeping you waiting for longer than I should have. Don't worry, I'm sure that the events that will unfold in this chapter will make up for it. :D Okay, it's response time!**

 **mike teavee, that's hilarious. :D**

 **The Illuminaughty Pine Tree, you'll find out shortly! ;)**

 **JOHNHAMMOND1993, yep, Mike's act of disabling the security system only made matters worse. By the way, I love Tower of Terror! It's an amazing ride, but I like Rock n' Roller Coaster a tad better. Have you been on that one? :D**

 **Sonny April, you'll find out what those creatures are (or were) very soon!**

 **Gs33022, you'll find out what happens next right after the next sentence! Now, on with the story!**

"Now entering the Administration Corridor," an automated voice spoke as the elevator Mike was in continued to descend. A few seconds later, it came to a halt, and the doors opened to reveal a corridor with flickering lights and bloodstains on the walls. As if that wasn't bad enough, the pungent smell of dried blood permeated the air throughout the area.

" _Why_ am I doing this to myself?" Mike whispered as he began to walk down the corridor. He reached for his plasma cutter, knowing that at any time, he might need to use it.

Suddenly, his watch began to beep, and Stella's face appeared in front of him.

"How are you doing, Mike?" she asked sweetly.

"Stella, you psycho bitch," Mike growled. "You nearly left me for dead out there!"

"Now, Mike," Stella said calmly, "you don't need to use that kind of language here. I can tell that you forgot to use your saw on the fuses in the Security Room. If you would have used it to take the system fully offline, the door would have remained open so that you didn't have to worry about being crushed."

"That wouldn't have changed the outcome, Stella," Mike told her. "If anything, your 'advice' would have only made matters worse, since these... _things_...would have had more ways to get around! They were using the factory's ventilation ducts, so even if every room went into quarantine at once, it would only serve to stop humans, not those creatures! Speaking of which, what even are they, anyway?"

"Hold on a sec," Stella said as she temporarily disappeared from view. Mike could hear the sound of typing in the background, and Stella reappeared a few seconds later. "Apparently, they used to work in the factory. According to the government's database, they were once known as Oompa-Loompas. Something horrific must have happened since the apocalypse for them to become what they are now."

"Are they...zombies?" Mike asked her, and she shook her head.

"No, they aren't," Stella replied. "Zombies move slowly and blindly while attempting to kill their target. These creatures still have a working central nervous system, and a brain that functions almost as well as they did when they were alive. They are quite intelligent, they often work together as a team, and they know what they're doing. And the worst part is, there are several different mutations that happened to these creatures. Some can run fast. Some can jump all over you. The biggest ones can grab you and rip you in half without even trying. You need to be careful at all times. Now hurry!" And with that, Stella was gone.

"Well, go figure," Mike growled, loudly stomping on the floor in frustration. After regaining his composure, he began to jog down the hallway, keeping his eyes and ears out for any further signs of danger, but curiously, there were no more signs of these monsters. No more grunting, no more shadows on the wall, no more sounds of their feet squelching and clicking on the floor.

"Now where am I supposed to go?" Mike asked himself, tapping his watch to bring up the locator. Much to his frustration, the blue line was being projected behind him this time, meaning that he had missed a turn somewhere. "Damn."

He followed the line, backtracking past a few doors until he reached one that was closed. Mike proceeded to turn its large, vault-like handle, but it didn't budge. He tried using his locator again, but it still pointed him towards the locked door.

"Are you freaking kidding me?!" Mike yelled. He kicked the door with his foot as hard as he could, and it did nothing but cause him to hop around while clutching his foot in pain. A few minutes later, as the pain slowly began to subside, he proceeded to turn around to go back the way he came, but he suddenly noticed an access card perched on top of a narrow shelf.

"This had _better_ be it," Mike said, sighing as he grabbed the card, and he held it up against the door. A loud beep was heard, and the door automatically opened to reveal another locker room. "What a stupid mission. I'm getting a feeling that this factory might either be a gigantic booby trap, or that I'm intentionally being tricked into something by either Stella or the government." He walked into the room, and after closing the door behind him, he found a small, yellow hard candy with Wonka's logo printed on the transparent plastic wrapper. Beneath the logo, it read, "Lemon Flavored Healing Candy".

"Well, at least it's not chocolate," Mike said as he took it and stashed it in a storage compartment fitted to the side of his suit. "And yes, I hate to say that I still detest chocolate. That's one trait that hasn't disappeared with my amnesia, all for the worse."

He walked back towards the door, but just before he touched the handle to open it, a click was heard, and the door locked itself.

"Foreign beings detected."

Mike gasped, remembering that automated voice from before and the horror that unfolded as a result, but to add insult to injury, there was no escape route this time. He whipped out his plasma cutter just as something dropped down from a vent in the ceiling. It was the same type of creature that pursued Mike on his way to the service elevator. He instinctively shot it in the chest with a burst of hot plasma, all to no avail.

"W-what the hell is going on?" Mike stammered as the unscathed creature began to confidently strut towards him. He shot it in the abdomen over and over again, but the plasma beam did absolutely nothing. Rather, it only agitated the creature, which pointed its tentacles straight at Mike's neck, complete with deadly barbs at their tips.

With split-second timing, Mike quickly shot a plasma beam towards the tentacles, and the creature screamed as they were cleanly severed from its body. It helplessly curled itself into the fetal position, and Mike delivered a final shot of plasma to the head to end its wrath once and for all.

"Quarantine lockdown lifted," the automated voice spoke, and Mike breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank God," he said as the door's lock disengaged with a click. "At least I know that those bastards can be defeated effectively."

His big toe was still throbbing from when he kicked the door earlier, and he hastily unwrapped the Healing Candy before popping it into his mouth. He didn't even bother to suck on it; instead choosing to let it slide down his throat. Seconds later, a warm, euphoric feeling radiated throughout his entire body, and the throbbing quickly vanished.

"So these things really work," Mike said in awe as he stared at the empty wrapper in his hand. "Is it true they're actually candies and not over-the-counter pharmaceutical drugs? If they're indeed candies, then Mr. Wonka and Charlie Bucket really did deserve as much fame as they must have. It's too bad I don't remember anything about them from back in the day, because I know that I was alive and well back then."

Mike used his locator once again, and it led him past a few more doors and around a series of tight corners, until he saw a door at the end of the hallway. Its discovery would have been unremarkable if it weren't for the beautiful blonde woman leaning up against it. Her long, silky hair flowed over her shoulders and halfway down her back like a golden waterfall. She wore a scant, swimsuit-like outfit that covered just enough of her body before things became vulgar, and her piercing blue eyes were locked on to Mike as if they were laser beams.

"There you are, Mike." Her voice sounded awfully familiar. "It's me, Stella."

Mike gasped in shock. "Y-you're Stella? I have so many questions to ask you about this mission!"

"There will be plenty of time for that later," Stella said as she reached for Mike's right hand. Mike quickly retracted his hand before she could grab it. "I just want you to check out this room over here," she continued, pointing at the door. She pressed a button on the wall, and the doors slid open to reveal an enormous room that looked like a laboratory, complete with test tubes, computers, and various control systems.

"What's of significance in here, Stella?" Mike inquired, but he was beginning to grow suspicious. "Are you sure—"

"Just get inside!" Stella shouted, her normally soft expression replaced by that of sheer fury. "NOW!" She used a special ring-like attachment on her middle finger to fire a purple beam at Mike. The beam immobilized him, and with a casual flick of Stella's wrist, Mike was sent flying into the room, landing on the floor with a hard thud. The doors slammed shut from behind, and Mike's heart was pounding like a jackhammer, dreading to hear the voice that said the room was about to go into quarantine.

But the announcement never came. Instead, he turned around to find out that the door had completely disappeared, and it was replaced by a solid wall.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO, STELLA?!" Mike screamed in anger. He frantically looked around the whole laboratory, but there was absolutely no door in sight, just four cold, gray walls that were as solid as solid can be. "I've got to be dreaming. This is impossible! I'm gonna be trapped inside this room for the rest of my life!"

To make matters worse, some of the test tubes rotated into a horizontal position, and they turned out to be nozzles. Without warning, a thick, brown liquid started to gush out of those nozzles, creating puddles on the formerly sterile floor.

Mike paled with terror as soon as he realized what this liquid was. "Chocolate?! NOOOOO!"

The molten chocolate was spewing from at least fifty more nozzles until it covered the entire floor in a thin layer, and as more of the warm, sweet liquid filled the room, it gradually rose higher and higher, like what happens when you fill a bathtub.

As the chocolate reached Mike's knees, he looked down in horror as his protective metal suit slowly disintegrated around him, until all that remained was bare skin. Mike was starting to hyperventilate, especially when the chocolate reached his chest a minute later. He tried to swim, only to realize that his feet were firmly anchored to the floor.

"I...I...this c-can't be real!" Mike screamed, pounding on the wall with his bare fists. At this point, the chocolate had submerged his shoulders, and it was now approaching his chin.

Mike instinctively tilted his head back to keep his nose and mouth above the chocolate, but it didn't take long before he felt the sickly sweet liquid run down his tongue. Essentially, he was being force-fed the very thing he hated most.

 _If this is what it's like to drown in chocolate_ , Mike thought as the chocolate was beginning to fill his nose, throat, and esophagus, _I can't possibly think of a worse way to go._

Suddenly, everything turned black, and before he knew it, he was standing outside the very same door where he had met Stella. He was fully clad in his suit, there were no traces of chocolate anywhere on his body, and Stella was nowhere to be seen.

Mike clutched his chest just before falling to his knees, barely able to process what had happened to him.

"No way," he whispered, profusely shaking his head as he did so. "Was I...hallucinating?"

 **Author's note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you thought of it, and hang in there for the next one. I promise I'll update it more promptly than I did with this one. Stay tuned!**


	7. Conflicting Beliefs

Chapter 7 - Conflicting Beliefs

 **Author's note: Hey everyone, I'm back with the next chapter. On with your reviews...**

 **The Illuminaughty Pine Tree, it seems that Mike's not the only one who is getting frustrated with Stella! You must be, too.**

 **MysteriousMaker1185, I'm glad you enjoyed the hallucination! You'll find out what's next shortly.**

 **Turrislucidus, you're right. Stella probably isn't who you think she is. Or is she? Who knows? I thought you'd get a good laugh out of Mike's misery with his toe. :D**

 **JOHNHAMMOND1993, happy belated birthday! Space Mountain is a great coaster as well, especially the WDW version. I'd love to try the Paris version sometime, since it actually goes upside down! Look it up. :)**

 **Gs33022, sometimes people can remember certain events, and not others. The human brain is a highly complex organ, and there could be all sorts of different outcomes for amnesia.**

 **Guest, I noticed you made a similar inappropriate comment on Gs33022's story (assuming you're the same person). I will be deleting your comment right away. (The comment was, "Mike has sex with Stella and plants a big d**do in her f***ing ass.") That is not okay under ANY circumstances! Any guest review that mentions adult toys or explicit sexual innuendos WILL be deleted automatically from now on. Now, on with the story.**

 _Audio log # 3: ID number 586749, it's Mike Teavee again. I honestly don't know what to think about my mission right now. I've just experienced a terrifying hallucination where I was trapped in a room with no way out, and as an added bonus, I almost drowned in chocolate. What's even weirder is that I saw Stella herself before she literally threw me into that room. But the way she acted around me...that's not like how she behaved during our video conversations! Was that a part of the hallucination as well? She looked so real in person, so I don't know what to believe. And that's coming from a guy whose brain is hardwired in logic, just like the computers that I work with. I've gotta go now, because I'm fighting for my life down here. Again, this is Mike Teavee, and I'm signing off._

 **Author's note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, even though it was so short. Stay tuned for the next one!**


	8. A Greater Threat

Chapter 8 - A Greater Threat

 **Author's note: Hello, dear readers! I'm back. Let's get to your reviews.**

 **The Illuminaughty Pine Tree, you'll find out what's to come very soon!**

 **Gs33022, Stella was not involved in the nuclear accident. The accident happened more than a century before these events. And yes, Augustus, Violet, and Veruca will (technically) appear in the story, although in a way that you may or may not expect.**

 **Turrislucidus, I thought I should hold this person accountable for what they've done. As for the second part of your review, I just figured that Mike would kind of think of himself as "hardwired in logic". Then again, to my knowledge, he did think that everything in the factory was stupid until they reached the Television Room. I believe that he has learned to accept the magic of Wonka's factory, but since he suffered from amnesia after 200 years of cryogenic stasis, I'm sure that his mind reverted back to its old ways.**

 **JOHNHAMMOND1993, yep, you can't rely on logic for literally everything, similar to what I said to Turrislucidus about Mike. And yes, I did know that Disneyland Paris' Space Mountain was going to be called Discovery Mountain. Now, on with the story!**

 **(WARNING: there is a violent scene in this chapter. Just letting you all know.)**

After Mike finished recording his third audio log, he warily rose to his feet, still unable to shake off the terrifying hallucination that he experienced mere minutes ago.

Without warning, Stella's holographic face appeared, looking at Mike with a worried expression. "Mike? Mike! Can you hear me? Are you all right?"

Mike sighed, lowering his head. "No, Stella. I'm seeing stuff that isn't real."

"Visions?" Stella replied, cocking her head to one side. "You're having visions?"

"Yes," Mike said, "and I don't know what to do about them. I swear I saw you in person just five minutes ago. Y-you were almost naked, and I...I remember you showing me the entrance to a room, and you got angry for no reason and threw me inside. And then I almost drowned in chocolate before realizing it was all a hallucination."

"Well, I'm nowhere near your location," Stella told Mike. "But the thought of me appearing in your hallucination like _that_...is interesting." She hastily turned away from Mike, trying in vain to hide the fact that she was blushing. "I-I'm sorry."

"You don't have to hide that from me," Mike said. "Now, what should I do next?"

"Well, your locator will guide you towards a locker room with a stasis ring inside," Stella told him. "Then, you'll enter the Administration Offices and hack the main computer to block it and the other computers from the government's systems, and then the locator will show you where to go after that. Got it?"

"Stella, why exactly do I need to do that?" Mike asked. He was growing suspicious of her demands.

"Because it's just what I told you to do," Stella replied. "Got it?"

Mike sighed. "I suppose. All right, I'm heading that way now."

"Good," Stella said, and she promptly disappeared, leaving Mike alone in the hallway. Without wasting a moment, Mike used the locator, and the blue beam guided him about fifteen paces forward before sharply veering off to the left.

 _Just how many more tools do I need?_ Mike mentally asked himself as he walked through the open doorway to the locker room. _I know I have more than enough storage for tools at the moment, but if I end up with at least a few more, then I'll run out of room, and then I'll have to make decisions on which tools to keep and which ones to get rid of. This will not be easy._

Mike quickly scanned the room, and he found two open lockers. From the first locker, he grabbed an aerosol container of medical fluid to heal injuries, and the other locker contained nothing but a tiny blue ring. He took the ring and held it in between his thumb and index fingers, examining its smooth, mirror-like surface from all angles.

"The Stasis Ring allows its user to reduce or eliminate temporal flow in a small, localized area for a short period of time," an automated voice spoke. "Personnel are advised to refrain from using stasis on living organisms, as this may have unforeseen consequences."

"Such as?" Mike asked, even though he knew that the automated voice would not reply. "Well, it said to refrain from using it on living organisms, but I bet that undead organisms don't count, so that warning about 'unforeseen consequences' probably need not apply here." Mike decided to place the ring on his right index finger, only to be startled when the ring magnetically attached itself to it. The ring glowed white for several seconds before gradually fading back to blue. "Cool piece of technology, I'll admit, but I gotta get moving."

Mike left the room and continued down the hallway until he reached a pair of malfunctioning double doors at the end. The doors were rapidly opening and closing over and over again, producing loud, clanging noises that echoed throughout the area. At the rate they were moving, there was no way he would be able to make it through the doors without facing catastrophic dismemberment in one way or another.

"Time to see just what this baby can do," Mike said with a grin as he touched the Stasis Ring. Immediately, a blue beam shot out of it towards the doors, and they slowed down before eventually grinding to a halt.

Mike confidently strutted through the open doorway, and he looked over his shoulder towards the stalled doors, admiring the temporary effects of his work as if he had just written a revolutionary computer program. The effects soon wore off and the doors resumed their mechanical malfunction. "So stasis really _does_ work. Impressive. Now, where are the Administration Offices?" Mike tapped the watch to bring up the locator, and the blue line led him to another pair of double doors, just off to his right.

"At least these ones aren't malfunctioning," Mike muttered as he pressed a nearby button on the wall, and the doors slid out of the way to reveal a massive, circular room that was about three-hundred feet tall. The offices themselves consisted of a long, spiraling ramp that spanned the perimeter of the room, stretching all the way from the ground to the highest floor about thirty stories up. All along the ramp, there was a single row of about a thousand desks that overlooked a central courtyard, which featured a large fountain and the remains of what appeared to be a garden. Each desk had an old computer and an armchair positioned in front of it.

"This is one big office," Mike said as he looked around the room in awe. "I can barely imagine how busy this room must have been back in the day."

His locator led him to a black desk not too far up the ramp. A brass plaque was positioned in front of a computer monitor, and it read: "Doris - Lead Supervisor".

"Hmmm, this should be interesting," Mike said as he pushed the power button on the back of the computer. A chime was heard as the computer booted up, and a shimmering silver "W" appeared on the screen as the operating system was being loaded. Eventually, it was replaced by a picture of a female Oompa-Loompa who wore a white beaded necklace, a pink collared shirt, and frameless glasses.

"So...that's what the workers looked like before all this happened?" Mike said to himself. "Interesting. I'll look into that later."

He used the mouse to open a terminal window, and he quickly typed some commands into the computer before pressing the Return key. Lines upon lines of code flashed across the screen so quickly that he had no time to read any of it, and a few seconds later, a window popped up that said, "All admin systems are now offline."

"Well, at least Stella will be happy now," Mike grumbled as he hastily logged out of the computer. He backtracked towards the doors he came in from, and he pushed the button beside the door frame. With a click, the doors smoothly parted like they did when he entered.

Suddenly, a body fell from an opening in the ceiling, nearly giving Mike a heart attack. He instantly raised his plasma cutter.

"Jeez, this factory really is a gigantic booby trap," he muttered in disgust as he carefully stepped over the corpse. It was an Oompa-Loompa, but it appeared more similar to Doris' healthy condition than that of the mutated ones he encountered before. Nonetheless, the man's unblinking, glassy eyes still made him feel uneasy.

Stella's holographic face appeared in front of Mike once again. "Mike, are you there? In case you didn't know, shooting those creatures in the chest does not work under any circumstances. You have to go for the limbs to take them down. Got it?"

"Yes, Stella," Mike responded just before she disappeared, leaving his surroundings as silent and desolate as ever. _So that explains why slicing off the tentacles on that creature I encountered earlier put it out of commission so quickly._

Mike's locator pointed him straight towards the end of the hallway, where another pair of double doors stood between him and whatever might be lying beyond. Once he got there, he pressed a button on the wall, and with a click and a whir, the doors slid open, and Mike barely had time to process the pink blur that was sprinting towards him.

"RAAAAAAAAA!" A mutated Oompa-Loompa roared as it took a flying leap right onto Mike's shoulders, causing him to fall flat on his back. Now that its head was mere inches away from Mike's, he had more than enough time to stare into its eyes, which were devoid of any sympathy or regret. A disgusting, yellow fluid was spilling from its open mouth as its jaws clamped themselves around Mike's neck, ripping away at the chain mail that was "protecting" it. His worries were quickly replaced by excruciating pain as the creature's teeth began tearing into the right side of his neck, and he could feel his own blood spilling out onto the floor. His suit's health monitor was beeping rapidly like an EKG, well on its way to flatlining at the moment of his impending death. _No!_ Mike screamed in his head. _I will not die! I will not die!_

Determined to survive, he managed to muster enough strength to push the creature away, and he quickly blasted its head off with the plasma cutter, followed by a swift kick to its abdomen. The toe of Mike's metal boot sent the monster's body flying into the wall with enough force to shatter its spine like porcelain. Its limp body fell onto the floor, and everything became silent once more.

Mike slowly rolled over onto his side so that the wound was facing up, and he awkwardly reached around for the container of medical fluid, which he had tucked into another one of his suit's many storage compartments.

He aimed it towards his neck and sprayed about half the container's contents onto the wound. The soothing mist caressed his wound, and just like that, the skin was perfectly healed and restored to its original condition, and as an added bonus, his suit began to repair itself.

"I'd better hope there are more of these containers in here," Mike said, sighing in relief as he stood up. He only had the slightest hint of an ache in his neck now, a major improvement on how he felt less than a minute ago. After stowing the aerosol container away, he took off his gloves, and he ran his fingers across the chain mail around his neck, verifying that the material had indeed been fully repaired. He stood up, put the gloves back on, and moved onward.

After two left-hand turns and one right-hand turn, Mike came across yet another door. This one had an electronic sign above it that read: "WONKAMOBILE STATION # 5". He opened it, and he entered a room that was unlike any that he had seen before. It was an open, spacious, well-lit room with comfortable reclining chairs and a long row of lockers that contained a plethora of goodies pertaining to Mike's mission, including extra ammunition for his plasma cutter, healing candies, another aerosol container of medical fluid, and even a flamethrower, along with a spare pack of fuel!

"This must be my reward for all the trouble I've been through so far, for better or for worse," Mike said after he finished grabbing everything he could from the lockers. He slumped down in one of the recliners, all too eager to close his eyes and recharge for just a few minutes. He tilted his head to the left to glance at the other end of the room, where a pair of tracks led into a tunnel. "I guess that's where I have to go next. Don't worry, Stella, I will get out of here alive."

 **Author's note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! What did you guys think of it? Feel free to review, and stay tuned for more! :)**

 **(Note: The layout of the Administration Offices in my story was inspired by the spiraling ramp gallery in the Guggenheim Museum.)**


	9. The Wonkamobile

Chapter 9 - The Wonkamobile

 **Author's note: Hey readers! I'm back with the next chapter. I'll respond to your reviews right now.**

 **Gs33022, I wish I could answer your question, but then I'd be spoiling part of the story. ;)**

 **JOHNHAMMOND1993, I was inspired to write this story while playing Dead Space. It certainly is a different take on Wonka's factory, isn't it?**

 **Turrislucidus, you're right in regards to the layout of the Administration Offices from the movie. I probably just forgot about that fact for a moment. Whoops! As for the Wonkamobile, I know it's primarily associated with the 1971 movie, but the vehicle was featured in one of my other stories, "Where All the Bad Nuts Go", and that story was clearly based on the 2005 movie.**

 **XXCandyLoverXX, yup, something is very wrong here. You'll find out what's really up with Stella as Mike nears the end of his mission. Now, on with the story! :)**

 _Audio log # 4: ID number 586749...Mike Teavee here. This mission is only getting more and more strange, and now I'm riding this stupid Wonkamobile or whatever it's called towards wherever I need to go next. I absolutely—what the hell is this?! I swear I just got sprayed with foam! And it tastes like orange soda! I'd better keep my mouth shut from now on—agh! Shit! It's in my eyes and my hair now, but my head was practically cooking inside my helmet, hence the reason I took it off! I can only hope this stupid ride will come to an end. Wait, I see something that looks like a car wash up ahead. If it sprays me with chocolate, I'm done for!_

 _Okay, it's taking me inside...what is that weird creaking sound? Those are some weird looking brushes and nozzles there. Thankfully it's not chocolate, and I'm now clean as a—aw, screw it, the word's not coming to my mind. And now I'm pulling into another station. Thank goodness, I can finally disembark now. Oh no...time to put this stupid helmet back on again. Damn. Uhh, this is Mike Teavee, and I'm signing off._

 **Author's note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope you got a laugh or two out of it. I intended to inject a little bit of humor into the story, to lighten the mood for just a little bit before the horror continues. And trust me, it will continue! Mwahahaha! Anyway, feel free to review, and as always, stay tuned for the next chapter! :D**


	10. New Priorities

Chapter 10 - New Priorities

 **Author's note: Hi, readers! I am terribly, TERRIBLY sorry that I took so long to update this story. With Halloween being just over a month away, I figured it's about time I get into the spirit and resume working on "Willy Wonka's Factory of Horrors"! Without further hesitation, I'll address your reviews.**

 **Gs33022, I'm glad you liked the Wonkamobile reference. Thankfully for Mike, he won't be riding it again afterwards!**

 **Turrislucidus, like I said to Gs33022, that is the last we'll see of that contraption. :)**

 **JOHNHAMMOND1993, sorry to spoil the speculation, but Stella and Violet are two separate people. They have nothing in common except that they both have blonde hair. If I disappointed you, I apologize. :P Now, on with the story!**

 **(Note: credit for New Loompaland and the name A'pocolate goes to MysteriousMaker1185.)**

Mike shook his head as he disembarked the Wonkamobile, looking over his shoulder at the strange vehicle.

"That's the last and only ride I'm ever taking on that abomination," Mike said to himself as he walked through an identical station, taking the opportunity to quickly stock up on more ammo for his plasma cutter. Without looking back, he strutted through the doors that served as the station's exit.

"Now entering Utility Corridor # 4," an automated voice spoke as Mike set foot into yet another corridor. The walls and floor of this corridor were made from concrete, and there were two strips of flickering blue lights on each wall, just above the floor, to provide illumination.

Suddenly, his watch beeped, but instead of Stella, a new face appeared on the holographic display. It was that of a man who had fairly dark skin, brown eyes, and a rather unusual haircut. His facial features reminded Mike of the creatures he had encountered, but this Oompa-Loompa was clearly alive and healthy as can be. He wore a red polyester jacket that contrasted well with the black leather armchair he was sitting in.

"Attention Mike Teavee, 586749, this is A'pocolate, chief of New Loompaland," he said with an assertive, almost stern voice. "We have traced recent acts of sabotage to your ID number. Care to explain this?"

Mike gulped. He knew he was in trouble now. "Uhh, I-I'm sorry," he apologized nervously. "But listen, I didn't know exactly what would happen. I just did what Stella told me, and now that bitch has left me for dead out here! So screw her, all right? I'll even testify if you wish."

"I don't think my colleagues will accept that," A'pocolate said, crossing his arms. "You've caused a _lot_ of trouble, Mike, but there is a way to make up for some of the damage you've done. The computers that control New Loompaland's security systems have malfunctioned, and you're the ideal person to repair them."

Mike noticed that a mutated Oompa-Loompa was walking towards him. It looked identical to the ones he had previously encountered. He quickly raised the plasma cutter.

"Isn't there someone else who can do it?" Mike protested. He pulled the trigger, severing both of the creature's legs from its torso with a white-hot burst of plasma. "I'm literally fighting for my life down here!"

"You're the only one in this building who knows how to operate the old computer systems that exist outside of New Loompaland," A'pocolate responded. "If you truly have any remorse for the last living members of our kind, this is your chance to show it. Fix the systems, and you'll keep those monsters from reaching our population. You must hurry!" A'pocolate immediately disappeared, leaving Mike alone.

 _So...there are people in here who are still alive?!_ Mike thought. _Why didn't anyone tell me that before?_

Mike walked towards the still-bleeding body of the monster he had just dismembered, and he stomped on its chest with his right foot to ensure that it was dead. His footsteps echoed all around the corridor as he moved onward. Before long, he approached a series of round doors that branched off both sides of the corridor.

"There's a Kinesis Ring in the first room on your left," A'pocolate told Mike. "It should prove to be a valuable tool for you."

"All right," Mike replied as he walked up to the door and pushed it open. Not surprisingly, Mike found himself in another locker room. After a quick search, he found a purple ring inside one of the lockers. He picked it up and placed it on his left index finger, and as with the Stasis Ring, this ring emitted a white glow for several seconds as it magnetically attached itself to his glove.

"The Kinesis Ring acts as an extension of the user's limb," an automated voice spoke. "With it, metallic objects and equipment can be remotely manipulated. Users should be aware of the object's true weight when working in populated areas."

"So _that's_ what Stella used on me in my hallucination," Mike said in realization as he walked out of the room. "She threw me into the air with just a flick of her wrist. With that amount of power literally at my fingertip, I'm ready for just about anything that may come my way!"

He used his locator, and it led him towards a door on the left side of the corridor about fifty feet ahead. An electronic sign positioned above the door displayed the words: "HYDRAULIC ROOM # 15".

"Well, here goes nothing," Mike said, sighing as he opened the door. He emerged into an enormous room that was filled to the ceiling with intimidating machinery. There were massive hydraulic pumps that were each the size of a semitrailer, and hundreds of black rubber hoses spread out from each pump as if they were the tentacles of a mutated giant squid. There were also backup accumulators to restart the pumps in case of a power outage, but despite their existence, the room was dead quiet, since the machinery had likely stopped working a long time ago.

"That's strange," Mike said as he listened for any signs of monsters. "It seems that the room must be empt—AHHHHH!"

A pair of thin but strong tentacles fastened themselves around Mike's neck from behind. His screams of terror were drowned out by the creature's growls, which were so loud and guttural that Mike's body was vibrating from the sound alone. With quick thinking, Mike whipped out his diamond saw, blindly thrashing the lethal weapon around with his right arm until he heard the sound of flesh being ripped apart, accompanied by a bloodcurdling scream from whatever was behind him. The creature released him, and with a wet thud, its lifeless body fell to the floor.

Mike turned around to look at what had ambushed him from behind. It was clearly another mutated Oompa-Loompa, but this one was quite different from the ones he had encountered previously. Its facial features appeared to be more human than the others, but instead of teeth, this one had four mandible-like fangs. Its blood-spattered body was humanlike except for the fact that it had two octopus-like tentacles instead of arms. One of the tentacles had been cleanly sliced off during the fight that took place seconds ago, and a deep, bloody gash stretched diagonally from its right shoulder all the way to its pelvic area.

"Mike?" Stella's voice rang out as her holographic face appeared in front of him. "Mike, can you hear me?"

He nodded. "Loud and clear, Stella."

"Mike, what you just encountered was another—" Her face disappeared, and her voice was replaced by static.

"Stella!" Mike yelled. "STELLA! Can you hear me or not?" More static. "Damn! Either we have a bad connection, or someone or something is jamming the signal." The static sharply cut off, leaving the room silent.

Mike suddenly heard a low-pitched growl from behind. He whipped around to see two more of these new creatures steadily walking towards him, their tentacles hungrily wriggling in all directions.

 _Where are they coming from?_ Mike asked himself as he instinctively raised the plasma cutter. With a few quick blasts of plasma, the mutated Oompa-Loompas fell down as blood and limbs flew everywhere, grunting as they took their last breaths. _Even though I've seen my fair share of monsters in this factory so far, at least this room didn't actually go into quarantine this time. I'd like to know why._

"That plasma cutter sure is proving to be a valuable tool for you, isn't it?" A'pocolate said as his holographic face appeared in front of Mike. "Use it in conjunction with your Stasis Ring and you should make it through this section of the factory with ease. Now, go to the control panel at the far end of the room and make sure to get it back online."

"What will it do?" Mike wondered as he walked across the room at a brisk pace.

"Repairing this system will restart the hydraulic pumps in this area, which should serve as a benefit while using the chocolate river as a mode of transportation. A barge will be docked at the station you come to, and it will take you to the entrance of the Rock Candy Mines. Now get moving."

"Roger," Mike replied just before A'pocolate disappeared. He picked up the pace slightly, breaking into a light jog as he neared the console. By the time he reached it, his legs were weak and his heart was pounding like a jackhammer.

"Stupid suit," he grumbled as his fingers typed a flurry of commands into the computer. "I know it's supposed to be a protective piece of gear, but why, just why, does it have to be so damn heavy?"

"Systems restored," an automated voice said once Mike hit the Return key for what seemed like the umpteenth time. Who knew that just a simple operation could require so much code?

A loud whine filled Mike's ears, followed by the sound of the hydraulic pumps powering up, as well as the gushing sounds of hydraulic fluid being forced through all those rubber hoses to who knows where. With a surge of newfound energy and relief, Mike jogged towards the exit of the Hydraulic Room. Thankfully, as he approached the doors, the room did not go into quarantine; instead allowing him to gracefully return to the corridor once they slid open.

Mike sighed in relief as he removed his helmet and his right glove, using the back of his now-exposed hand to wipe away the thick beads of sweat that had accumulated on his forehead. "Mission accomplished," he said out loud before donning his gear once again.

With the help of his trusty locator, Mike followed the glowing blue line past a plethora of doors, listening carefully for the slightest growl, scream, or footstep, which there were none along this stretch of the journey. Eventually, his progress was hindered by two large metal shipping crates that blocked the path. They bore a swirly white "W" on all sides.

"Use kinesis to clear that shit outta the way," A'pocolate told Mike.

"Got it," Mike responded, grinning beneath his helmet as he touched the Kinesis Ring with a finger. Instantly, a white beam of energy shot out of the ring towards the first crate, effortlessly lifting it off the ground. The ring hummed with electricity as Mike turned his arm ever so slightly to guide the crate through the air, and once it was out of the way, he carefully lowered his arm to set it onto the ground before disengaging the beam. He did the same with the second crate. "I gotta admit, this is really cool."

Now that the path was clear, Mike continued onward until he reached a door that was labeled: "CHOCOLATE RIVER MAINTENANCE ACCESS PORT Q". There was a small, blinking orange button located beside the door, and with a light press, the door clicked and made a loud whirring sound as it slid open.

"Mike, I see that you made it to one of the transport tunnels," A'pocolate said with a smile. "See that barge over there?" Mike looked around to find a barge that was docked at the side of the river. Really, it was just a large, flat platform with steel railings at the front and back, and a small computer terminal in the center.

"Yes, I see it," Mike replied. "I guess that computer is what controls the barge?"

"That is correct," A'pocolate replied. Mike stepped onto the barge and walked towards the computer. "All you have to do is tell the barge to go to the next stop, which will be the entrance to the Rock Candy Mines. Once you're there, I'll give you another briefing."

"Thank you," Mike said as A'pocolate vanished. He typed in a single line of code, and with a click, the barge's anchor withdrew its hold on the station platform.

"Departing Access Port Q: Utility Corridor # 4," a voice announced as the barge began to float down the river at a smooth, steady pace. "Next stop is Access Port R: Rock Candy Mines."

"Mike, I'm here," Stella said as her face appeared in front of him. "Sorry I couldn't talk with you. Someone was jamming my signal. Anyway, once you reach the Rock Candy Mines, I will guide you through, since it's like a maze in there and you could easily get lost."

"But someone else just told me he'd give me a briefing of his own once I get there," Mike calmly replied. "Plus, I have my locator."

Stella sighed, brushing a long strand of blonde hair away from her left eye. "I know. It's just that I have your best interests at heart. I will help you the best I can, Mike. Cheers." And with that, she vanished, leaving only the bare metal walls and the slow current of molten chocolate in front of Mike to look at.

 _Okay, I'm confused_ , Mike thought. _Stella and A'pocolate are both giving me their own sets of instructions. That means that one of them has to be telling me the truth, and the other one has to be—_

"Now approaching Access Port R: Rock Candy Mines," the automated voice said, snapping Mike out of his thoughts. The barge smoothly pulled into the station platform and anchored itself into position, and Mike was free to disembark.

"All right, with that out of the way, let's go," Mike sighed, walking towards a steel door that was labeled: "ROCK CANDY MINES". With a push of a button, the door slid out of the way, and he marched inside.

 **Author's note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! What do you think might happen to Mike inside the mines? Only I know for sure! MWAHAHA! As always, feel free to review, and stay tuned for the next chapter, which will be published soon! :)**


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